142nd Battalion (London's Own), CEF

The 142nd (London's Own) Battalion, CEF was a unit in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War. Based in London, Ontario, the unit began recruiting in late 1915 in that city. After sailing to England in November 1916, the battalion was absorbed into the 23rd Reserve Battalion on November 11, 1916. The 142nd (London's Own) Battalion had one Officer Commanding: Lieutenant-Colonel C.M.R. Graham.

Stewart reports that the 142nd Battalion was organized on December 22, 1915, with a strength of 574 men. The unit was disbanded after the Great War on September 15, 1920. The 142nd Canadian Infantry Battalion was absorbed by the 23rd Reserve Battalion[1] to provide reinforcements for the Canadian Corps in the field. The 142nd Battalion is affiliated with the 1st and 33rd CEF Battalions and is perpetuated by The Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR). The 142nd Battalion received the theatre of war honour THE GREAT WAR, 1916.[2]

Lieutenant George Van Wyck Laughton, M.C. (Vimy Ridge)[3] of the 7th Regiment Fusiliers (Militia) attested to the 142nd Canadian Infantry Battalion in 1915. Details of the links between the Militia and the Canadian Expeditionary Force are provided on Lt. Laughton's web site.

1.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany

2.
The Royal Canadian Regiment
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The Royal Canadian Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. The regiment consists of four battalions, three in the Regular Force and one in the Primary Reserve, the RCR is the senior infantry regiment in the Regular Force, but its 4th Battalion is ranked 11th in the order of precedence among infantry regiments in the Primary Reserve. In 1887 a fourth Company was authorized and the year was established at London. Now consisting of three Regular Force battalions and one Reserve Force battalion, the four battalions are now stationed in Ontario. With many of its soldiers drawn from Ontario and the Atlantic Provinces in recent decades, the RCR maintains a Regimental Headquarters in Petawawa, Ontario, which has no operational command role but handles regimental affairs outside the responsibility of the individual Battalions. The Royal Canadian Regiment Museum is located within historic Wolseley Hall in London, Wolseley Barracks in London has been continuously occupied by some element of the regiment since construction of Wolseley Hall was completed in 1888. At various times Wolseley Barracks has been the home of the Regimental Headquarters, the 1st and 2nd Battalions, the Royal Canadian Regiment has been awarded a total of 58 battle honours. In the list below, battle honours in capitals were awarded for participation in operations and campaigns. Battle honours in bold type are emblazoned on the regimental colours, the RCR was also assigned the perpetuation of The Loyal London Volunteers which was accompanied by a non-emblazonable Honorary Distinction. The regiment itself was formed as the Infantry School Corps on 21 December 1883 and these school corps were created as regular units that would train the Canadian militia. The first companies stood up in Fredericton NB, St Jean-sur-Richelieu QC, the Infantry School Corps first battle honours were earned during the North-West Rebellion in 1885, where it fought at Batoche and Cut Knife Creek. The regiment later provided personnel to the Yukon Field Force, which assisted the North-West Mounted Police in the Yukon during the Gold Rush. The Regiment was then in the South African War, its overseas deployment was delayed by an assignment in Bermuda from September 1914 until August 1915. Upon returning to Nova Scotia, its members attested for service with the Canadian Expeditionary Force. The regiments name was changed to The Royal Canadian Regiment of Infantry in 1893, William Dillon Otter, formerly of The Queens Own Rifles of Canada, was the first Commanding Officer. He would later become the first Canadian-born Chief of the General Staff, during the South African War, the 2nd Battalion was raised from across the country to contribute Canadas First Contingent in this war, with Otter in command. This battalion was disbanded in 1900 upon its return to Canada. The 3rd Battalion was also raised at this time, in 1900 and this date has since been celebrated by the Regiment as Paardeberg Day

3.
London, Ontario
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London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 383,822 according to the 2016 Canadian census, London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximately halfway between Toronto, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan. The City of London is a municipality, politically separate from Middlesex County. London and the Thames were named in 1793 by John Graves Simcoe, the first European settlement was between 1801 and 1804 by Peter Hagerman. The village was founded in 1826 and incorporated in 1855, since then, London has grown to be the largest Southwestern Ontario municipality and Canadas 11th largest metropolitan area, having annexed many of the smaller communities that surrounded it. London is a centre of health care and education, being home to the University of Western Ontario, Fanshawe College. Londons university and hospitals are among its top ten employers, London lies at the junction of Highway 401 and 402, connecting it to Toronto, Windsor, and Sarnia. It also has an airport, train and bus station. Prior to European contact in the 18th century, the present site of London was occupied by several Neutral, Odawa, archaeological investigations in the region indicate that aboriginal people have resided in the area for at least the past 10,000 years. The current location of London was selected as the site of the capital of Upper Canada in 1793 by Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe. Simcoe intended to name the settlement Georgina, in honour of King George III, however, the choice of a capital site in the midst of extensive hardwood forests was rejected by Guy Carleton. In 1814, there was a skirmish during the War of 1812 in what is now southwest London at Reservoir Hill, the village of London, named after the English capital of London, was not founded until 1826, and not as the capital Simcoe envisioned. Rather, it was a seat for the area west of the actual capital. At the time, Crown and clergy reserves were receiving preference in the rest of Ontario, in 1832, the new settlement suffered an outbreak of cholera. London proved a centre of strong Tory support during the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837, London was incorporated as a town in 1840. On 13 April 1845, fire destroyed much of London, which was at the time largely constructed of wooden buildings, one of the first casualties was the towns only fire engine. This fire burned nearly 30 acres of land destroying 150 buildings before burning itself out later the same day, one-fifth of London was destroyed and this was the provinces first million dollar fire. Sir John Carling, Tory MP for London, gave three events to explain the development of London in a 1901 speech

4.
Canadian Expeditionary Force
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The Canadian Expeditionary Force was the designation of the field force created by Canada for service overseas in the First World War. The force fielded several combat formations on the Western Front in France and Belgium, the Canadian Cavalry Brigade and the Canadian Independent Force, which were independent of the Canadian Corps, also fought on the Western Front. The CEF also had a reserve and training organization in England. The Germans went so far as to call them storm troopers for their combat efficiency. In August 1918, the CEFs Canadian Siberian Expeditionary Force travelled to revolution-torn Russia and it reinforced an anti-Bolshevik garrison in Vladivostok during the winter of 1918–19. At this time, another force of Canadian soldiers were placed in Archangel, the Canadian Expeditionary Force was mostly volunteers, as conscription was not enforced until the end of the war when call-ups began in January 1918. Ultimately, only 24,132 conscripts arrived in France before the end of the war, Canada was the senior Dominion in the British Empire and automatically at war with Germany upon the British declaration. According to Canadian historian Dr. Serge Durflinger at the Canadian War Museum, of the first contingent formed at Valcartier, Quebec in 1914, fully two-thirds were men born in the United Kingdom. By the end of the war in 1918, at least fifty per cent of the CEF consisted of British-born men, many British nationals from the United Kingdom or other territories who were resident in Canada also joined the CEF. As several CEF battalions were posted to the Bermuda Garrison before proceeding to France, although the Bermuda Militia Artillery and Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps both sent contingents to the Western Front, the first would not arrive there til June 1915. By then, many Bermudians had already been serving on the Western Front in the CEF for months, Bermudians in the CEF enlisted under the same terms as Canadians, and all male British Nationals resident in Canada became liable for conscription under the Military Service Act,1917. Two tank battalions were raised in 1918 but did not see service, most of the infantry battalions were broken up and used as reinforcements, with a total of fifty being used in the field, including the mounted rifle units, which were re-organized as infantry. The artillery and engineering units underwent significant re-organization as the war progressed, a distinct entity within the Canadian Expeditionary Force was the Canadian Machine Gun Corps. It consisted of several machine gun battalions, the Eatons, Yukon, and Borden Motor Machine Gun Batteries. During the summer of 1918, these units were consolidated into four machine gun battalions, the Canadian Corps with its four infantry divisions comprised the main fighting force of the CEF. The Canadian Cavalry Brigade also served in France, the 1915 Battle of Ypres, the first engagement of Canadian forces in the Great War, changed the Canadian perspective on war. Ypres exposed Canadian soldiers and their commanders to modern war and they had already experienced the effects of shellfire and developed a reputation for aggressive trench raiding despite their lack of formal training and generally inferior equipment. In April 1915, they were introduced to yet another facet of modern war, the Germans employed chlorine gas to create a hole in the French lines adjacent to the Canadian force and poured troops into the gap